Delano family

De Lannoy family in Europe

Philippe de Lannoy was born in Leiden on December 7, 1602, of Walloon religious refugee parents Jan Lano, born Jean de Lannoy in 1575 at Tourcoing, and Marie Mahieu of Lille, Spanish Netherlands Walloon Flanders, both now in northern France. His parents were betrothed in the Leiden Walloon Church on January 13, 1596. His father died in 1604 at Leiden. Philippe's grandfather, Guilbert de Lannoy of Tourcoing, was born Roman Catholic but apparently became an early Protestant. He left the mainland with his family for England probably in the late 1570s and then, in 1591, moved to Leiden, a safe harbor for religious dissidents. The Mahieu family arrived in Leiden around the same time, having earlier been at Armentières, near Lille. The family name de Lannoy probably derives from the town of Lannoy (a name derived from the Latin alnetum and French "l'aulnaie" meaning "alder plantation"), also near Lille. There is no proven connection to the noble De Lannoys in the area.

Migration to America

Arriving from England, Philippe de Lannoy's family affiliated with the Leiden Walloon Church, which held services in French, indicating they probably spoke French or Picard. The timing and extent of his contact with the John Robinson Pilgrim congregation in Leiden is unknown but Philippe eventually joined the voyage Robinson organized to the American continent. The Leiden Pilgrims bought the Speedwell for the voyage. Although his name is not on the passenger list, Philippe is believed by Mayflower scholar Jeremy Bangs to have joined his maternal uncle Francis Cooke (husband of his mother's sister, Hester Mahieu) and young cousin John Cooke on the Speedwell voyage from Delfshaven to Southampton to meet the Mayflower. It is possible that Philippe went separately to England rather than aboard Speedwell. They gathered in England with other Pilgrims and hireling colonizers to stage the onward voyage with the two ships. The Speedwell proved unseaworthy and eleven of its passengers were able to join the Mayflower. It is unknown if the twenty (including Robert Cushman and Phillipe de Lannoy) who could not sail on the Mayflower returned to Leiden or remained in England. The Mayflower proceeded solo with a combined company of 103, leaving Plymouth on September 6, 1620, arriving Cape Cod Harbor on November 11, 1620. The Fortune eventually substituted for the Speedwell, sailing for Plymouth Colony in early July 1621, arriving on November 9, 1621, with Philippe among its passengers.

Life in America

Philippe de Lannoy joined and resided with his uncle Francis Cooke and cousin John, who had arrived on the Mayflower the year before. In 1623, he received a land grant in Plymouth but sold this property in 1627 and moved to Duxborough. In 1634, at Plymouth, Massachusetts, he married Hester Dewsbury. Their children: 1. Mary Delano, b. abt 1635; 2. Philip Delano, b. abt 1637; 3. Hester or Esther Delano, b. abt 1640; 4. Thomas Delano, b. 21 March 1642; 5. John Delano, b. 1644; 6. Jonathan Delano, b. 1647-1648, prob. Duxbury, Massachusetts. Delano prospered and was part of the group who organized the construction of highways and bridges around the village. Hester died after 1648. Before 1653 he married the widowed Mary Pontus Glass, b. abt 1625, by whom he had three children: 1. Jane Delano; 2. Rebecca Delano; 3. Samuel Delano.".

He served in the Pequot War of 1637 as a volunteer. In 1652, he joined with 35 other colonists to purchase with trading goods what was then called Dartmouth Township from Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag, who drew the boundaries. It was sold to the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers, who wished to live outside the stringent religious laws of the Puritans. Philippe gave his portion of the acquisition, amounting to 800 acres (3.2 km²), to his son Jonathan Delano. He died on August 22, 1681, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. A great many of his offspring would become prominent mariners, whalers, and shipbuilders. The later commercial success of some Delanos was such that they would become part of the Massachusetts aristocracy, sometimes referred to as one of the Boston Brahmins (the "First Families of Boston").

Warren Delano's career smuggling opium into China

Warren Delano made a large fortune trading opium in Canton (now Guangdong), China. Delano first went to China at age 24 to work for Russell & Company, which had pioneered trading with China. John Perkins Cushing - also a Russell & Company partner - had preceded Delano and initiated a close relationship with a Chinese official called Howqua. The two men had established an offshore base - an anchored floating warehouse - where Russell & Company ships would offload their opium contraband before continuing up the Pearl River Delta to Canton with their legal cargo.

By early 1843, Delano had spent a momentous decade in the China trade. He had achieved his financial competence and risen to become the head partner of the biggest American firm dealing with China. He had witnessed the destruction of the hated Canton system, the humiliation of the Chinese government, and the creation of New Chinas.

Descendants

Jonathan married Mercy Warren, granddaughter of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren; among their direct descendants are the author Laura Ingalls Wilder, President Ulysses S. Grant, President Calvin Coolidge, anthropologist Robert Redfield, astronaut Alan B. Shepard, entertainer Martina McBride and the poet Conrad Potter Aiken.

Over time, family members migrated to other states, including Michigan, Maine, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, Vermont and as far away as Chile, where today descendants of Captain Paul Delano are numerous and prominent. From the New York clan, Sara Delano married James Roosevelt and their only child, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, became president of the United States.